Southern Prom 3-Night Hike

[Wahzammo]

My partner and I spent the cup weekend down at Wilson's Prom hiking a circuit from Telegraph Saddle > O/N at Refuge Cove > Lightstation > O/N at Roaring Meg > Halfway Hut > O/N at Oberon Bay > Tidal River.
It is the first time I have been hiking in about 20 years and I had probably one of the best weekends of my life.
My question is, in terms of hiking in Victoria, what would that circuit rank in terms of difficulty? The 2nd day from Refuge Cove all the way too Roaring Meg was very challenging since we both took a sink or swim approach to the weekend, but we pulled up pretty good after all was said and done.
I have heard other hikers say that the Prom is a pretty easy place to start, is that a fair assumption?

What would anyone suggest as a similar challenge elsewhere for an over-nighter?

[north-north-west]

Yes, the Southern Prom circuit is generally regarded as a good intro walk. Lerderderg is a popular overnighter. If you want something at a similar or slightly higher level, you could try Gariwerd/Grampians. The Major Mitchell is a good walk, and you can make some nice circuits out of tracks west of the main road, or the full Mt Difficult Range loop. If you like beach walking parts of the GSWW or the GOW would be good.
You can get a good intro to the high country walks by doing one of the routes into Tali Karng - Wellington River if the water levels aren't too high, or the easier route from MacFarlane Saddle. Or the traverse of the Baw Baw plateau, with sidetrips to St Gwinnear and Baw Baw. There are also good loops available by connecting tracks in the Hotham/Bogong area - Bon Accord, Razorback and Bungalow to Feathertop; the Fainters from either Bogong Village or Cope or Pretty Valley; the tracks up Bogong itself, or up Mt Wills; Loch, Machinery Spur, Westins, Jim, Cobungra Gap, Swindlers. Lot of tracks there and plenty of ways to use them.

Glad you enjoyed it. Welcome to the fraternity.

[JamesMc]

What you have just done is a bit long in terms of distance but very easy in terms of terrain.

Lots of places to go. Mt Howitt or Bogong High Plains are good for summer.

[peregrinator]

My partner and I spent the cup weekend down at Wilson's Prom hiking a circuit from Telegraph Saddle > O/N at Refuge Cove > Lightstation > O/N at Roaring Meg > Halfway Hut > O/N at Oberon Bay > Tidal River.
It is the first time I have been hiking in about 20 years and I had probably one of the best weekends of my life.
My question is, in terms of hiking in Victoria, what would that circuit rank in terms of difficulty? The 2nd day from Refuge Cove all the way too Roaring Meg was very challenging since we both took a sink or swim approach to the weekend, but we pulled up pretty good after all was said and done.
I have heard other hikers say that the Prom is a pretty easy place to start, is that a fair assumption?

What would anyone suggest as a similar challenge elsewhere for an over-nighter?

For a first walk in 20 years, I think you've done well, with day two being 24.0 or 25.1 km (depending on the route on the last leg). The maximum altitude is only about 200m, but there are several climbs and descents. In comparison, Halls Gap to Rosea camp (just as an example) is an elevation gain of 380m although the distance is only 12km. Whether that means you could then regard the day two Prom walk as being very roughly equivalent or not is hard to judge (though some people do have complicated formulae for such calculations). One very important factor is obviously the weight you were carrying. Do you have an approximate figure for that?

I think your "sink or swim" approach was probably very suitable in the circumstances, and it's more or less what we all do a lot of the time. But now that you've proved you can achieve a goal don't feel obliged to do that on every walk. It's worth having a Plan B sometimes, rather than spending more effort than is necessary to have an enjoyable trip. In these unfortunate times when pre-booking campsites is becoming the norm, it's harder to organise a Plan B though. (Another reason why such schemes stink! See the messages on the subject of campsite fees).

I hope there are many more "best weekends of your life" to come.

[Wahzammo]

My pack weighed somewhere between 12-13kgs.. with water included.. Heavier than I would have liked but I bought a Tatonka Pyrox 45 for the trip which thankfully made the weight bearable. The tent I was carrying was a Kathmandu Retreat 30 which weighed 3.3kg on its own, food for 4 days, 2.75 litres of water, sleeping bag, first aid kit, alcohol cooking stove, 1 litre of fuel, change of clothes, etc etc
It was my calves that ended up taking the biggest hit as I walked in my trusty old steel-cap Blundstones... Gear upgrades are definately on the cards before my trip to Tassie over the Xmas break..

[neilmny]

Hey Wahzammo did you weigh your pack or is that a guess? It's pretty impressive for the gear you've listed.
You've got aver 9 kg (600gm per day?) in food, liquids and tent before anything else.
My own pack ends up about 16+kg for the same bunch of gear.

[Mutley]

Great to hear you had a successful hike and by the sound of it, the bug had bitten. Happened to me about 8 years ago and I haven't looked back. Welcome to the club.

[Wahzammo]

Hey Wahzammo did you weigh your pack or is that a guess? It's pretty impressive for the gear you've listed.
You've got aver 9 kg (600gm per day?) in food, liquids and tent before anything else.
My own pack ends up about 16+kg for the same bunch of gear.

Nah it was just a rough guess, my partner carried half of our food thou. and I didnt take heavy jacket with me, just a windbreaker. Honestly it could have been closer to 15 or 16kgs.. when I first picked it up I was was sure it weighed 20kg haha...

[neilmny]

Hey Wahzammo did you weigh your pack or is that a guess? It's pretty impressive for the gear you've listed.
You've got aver 9 kg (600gm per day?) in food, liquids and tent before anything else.
My own pack ends up about 16+kg for the same bunch of gear.

Nah it was just a rough guess, my partner carried half of our food thou. and I didnt take heavy jacket with me, just a windbreaker. Honestly it could have been closer to 15 or 16kgs.. when I first picked it up I was was sure it weighed 20kg haha...

Maybe it wasn't the boots doing those calves in
I know that feeling to the first time you pick up a loaded pack after a while.

[rimair]

Nicely done after 20 years!

Melbourne Bushwalkers did the circuit in September (Telegraph Saddle > Refuge Cove (camp) > Lighthouse (camp!) > Tidal River via Oberon (56.3km) and rated it as Medium on a scale of Easy / Easy-Medium / Medium / Medium-Hard / Hard. Not really all that demanding in good conditions but weather can make a big difference in perceived difficulty and makes it hard to rate a walk in advance simply on the track conditions and the terrain. Have to agree that an investment in some lighter gear would make life easier for you.

Some good suggestions above for other walks. Photographs help to make your own judgements. Check out our photogallery ( http://mbw.org.au/zenphoto/index.php ) or that of other groups to get a sense of what a walk may involve. Also some great books around now with helpful walk descriptions.

[Wahzammo]

Half-way to the Lighthouse, which you can just see far right! This was taken on my phone..